Convention 'suffers' due to lack of debate, says delegate

"It's like listening to the Politburo," one north Westmeath voice commented at the county convention in Rosemount last weekend.But it wasn't the austerity of Cold War-era Russian politics that was in question: rather the day-to-day running of Gaelic games in Westmeath.Some fourteen motions for discussion - the majority of them from the St Joseph's club - were tabled ahead of Saturday's convention. Twelve were dismissed as "out of order", two withdrawn, and a host of others re-directed to the county board's in-camera planning committee.For example, a motion put down by St Joseph's, calling for frees which are kicked backwards to be outlawed, was set aside as being "out of order" because no specific rule was referred to in the text of the motion.St Joseph's delegate Aidan Walsh said that he "could not understand" why the spirit of the motion could not be debate, owing to a change in "the way football is played".But county board chairman, Tom Farrell told him that before January 12, the motion would have to be "tidied up", giving examples of specific rules, before it could be submitted to GAA's Standing Rules Committee ahead of Congress in April.Otherwise, Mr Farrell added, it wouldn't be entertained by Croke Park.Another motion, submitted by Bunbrosna's Eddie Newman, called for all county players to be made available for a guaranteed minimum of three league games per year.But this motion was also ruled out of order, as Mr Farrell said that it was already provided for under the GAA's Charter rules, if not always adhered to.As motion after motion went by the wayside, Clonkill's Christy Austin spoke up."We're at number eight and we've heard no voice from the floor other than proposals," he said. "This convention is suffering from a lack of contributions from the floor."Perhaps in recognition of this fact, Mr Farrell agreed to allow comment on some motions set aside for the planning committee.A number of these included proposed reforms to the format of championships, such as Clonkill's proposal to make the county senior hurling championship a six-team affair.Mr Farrell hinted that changes to championship structures are in the pipeline, in order to "spice up" football and hurling in light of income reductions."The championships need spicing up, especially the hurling," he said.But the remarks were greeted with skepticism by Maryland delegate, Richie Browne. "We shouldn't touch the championships," he said. "I see nothing wrong with the senior and intermediate football championships as they are."